Byanyima claims Museveni wants Besigye to die in prison

Uganda's veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye stands in the dock at the Makindye Martial Court in Kampala, on November 20, 2024. [AFP]

Jailed Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye was hospitalised overnight, his wife said Tuesday, claiming President Yoweri Museveni wanted his long-time critic to die in prison.

Besigye, 69, is a leading opponent of Museveni -- who was re-elected last week for his seventh term -- and has unsuccessfully challenged him in four elections.

He was abducted in Kenya in 2024 and returned to Uganda where he faces the death penalty for treason, charges widely condemned by international rights groups.

"He is a captive of Mr Museveni and his son, the army commander," his wife, who is also executive director for UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, told local media.

"He wants Besigye to die in prison."

Byanyima told reporters that she had been told her husband was suffering from severe dehydration, and was eventually admitted to hospital after a request by his personal doctor.

"He was shaking, he told me himself, and unable to walk without support," she said.

Following treatment, Byanyima said, "the prison authorities took him back to prison at night".

"It's a plot to kill him. Museveni wants to silence  the one leader of the opposition who understands him and who stands up to him and his criminal ways," she said.

It follows Uganda's election last week, which was decried by the opposition as a "sham" and criticised by international bodies in the run-up to the polls.

Besigye was briefly admitted to hospital in February last year following a hunger strike.

He has been held in prison since his abduction, awaiting trial, but in September he boycotted the trial's start, accusing the judge of bias.

Besigye's case was initially tried as a court martial but later moved to a civilian court after the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to try civilians in military courts.

However, Museveni later signed a new law reinstating military trials for civilians under "exceptional circumstances".